Pakistan Mobile Communication Limited (Jazz) has been fined Rs38.9 million by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) for alleged violations of the issuance, verification, activation, sale and monitoring of roughly 400 corporate postpaid SIMs.
The regulator has issued the enforcement order under Section 23 of the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organization) Act, 1996 on a complaint of M/s Target Marketing (Private) Limited.
The company said that some 400 corporate SIMs were issued in its name without its request, consent or authorisation. It thereafter got a recovery letter from a third-party entity demanding Rs626,360.48 as payments due for the connections.
The SIMs were active for a long time without the knowledge and agreement of the corporation, the complaint said.
Jazz was asked by PTA for the necessary records after the complaint. But the regulator stated the cellular operator offered an insufficient response throughout the probe.
Jazz did not provide the needed corporate authorisation documents and end-user credentials to PTA. The operator apparently gave an NTN certificate and an old business contract with a contact person associated with the corporate account.
Jazz also provided a list of 400 SIMs registered under that person’s name, as well as requests for other business links made between June and August 2021.
But the PTA stated the documents were not sufficient to prove that they complied with the statutory end-user verification, credential keeping, and tying SIMs to specific users criteria.
“The telecom operators should keep on checking and monitoring the corporate SIMs,” said the regulator. They must also ensure full traceability during the whole life cycle of each link.
PTA stated this responsibility cannot simply be passed on to corporate customers, franchisees, sales channels or authorised representatives. Telecom providers are expected to have effective procedures in place to meet the regulatory requirements.
Jazz said the issue was mainly commercial or billing issues. PTA denied the claim, saying the matter was about regulatory compliance and not a mere business dispute.
The authority said the alleged infractions showed weaknesses in Jazz’s processes for corporate SIM issuance, verification, activation and post-issuance monitoring.
The findings were connected to the requirements under the Subscribers’ Regulations and the associated Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), PTA added.
The regulator fined Jazz Rs38.9 million and asked the business to pay the amount within 30 days of the enforcement order.
PTA advised that failure to pay the penalty within the stipulated deadline may result in further legal action.
Technical Faults Detected in 6 Electric Buses in Murree
Six out of 11 electric buses that were launched in Murree under the Punjab government’s Green Bus Electric Bus Project have experienced…
